A cozy day for all!

Sleeve one...

And sleeve two halfway done!
Operation Finish Baby Sweater Before Tangled Yoke Yarn Turns Up is a go.

Hopping to

With the new fall knitting magazines out I'm feeling the need to gitty up on my current knitting projects. I really don't like having that many WIPs going at once, so I'm trying to knock a few off the list so I can start new ones in good faith.

For the fall knitting, I've decided to start with Eunny's Tangled Yoke Cardigan from the Fall 2007 Interweave Knits (for non-ravelrers). I am sure I will be in good company in knitting this, considering it's been queued on Ravelry 460 times and counting. I decided against starting with the Placed Cable Aran, which I also adore, because I think I'll get more wear out of the cardigan; I have little opportunity to wear big heavy wool sweaters in my life, it seems. My yarn order is placed, but the Felted Tweed is backordered for 3 weeks! Bother.

However, this is an excellent opportunity to set a deadline for finishing some lingering knits. I would most like to knock off the Dolly baby sweater I've been laboring on since March. There is no reason a baby sweater should take 6 months! It took me 5 months to knit the two front pieces and one week to knit the back, so that's an improvement. I'm also blocking them as I go because they knit up to shriveled stockinette bits of nothing and that's no fun.

I started sleeve #1 today. This pattern has repeatedly bugged me - I'd rather they take the extra space to write out the reverse shaping than telling me to figure it out myself. It's not rocket science, but it's annoying. Also, for the scalloped edge on the sleeve (which is adorable), I'm instructed to lift 8 stitches over the first stitch on the left needle. I started doing a whole operation with my crochet hook before I realized slipping them over one at a time was just as good, and a thousand times easier. At the end of the scalloping I had 49 stitches and they tell me I'm meant to have 50. For the life of me I have no idea where the missing stitch went - the row is not that long and I can see everything I did, and all of my numbers line up. An error in the pattern? I'd like to think so, but there is no errata to be found for Jaeger patterns anywhere on the Internets. I mean, are they really that good at writing patterns? Suspicious. At any rate, I fudged and carried on. I know the infant will not care, and if the second sleeve winds up the same then I'll be vindicated. Isn't the scalloping cool? I love it.

Procrastination

Ravelry is fantastic for a lot of things, one of which is procrastination. In order to avoid doing work and writing my bridesmaid speech (which I'll be delivering next week at about this time, god help me), I thought I'd better photograph and catalog all of my stash yarn. This took the better part of yesterday afternoon, and I discovered I have (a) a bunch of sock yarn I will likely never use, (b) one very small sweater's worth of Cotton Glace, and (c) a gojillion oddballs (sometimes two balls-worth) of every conceivable yarn weight, none of which match each other. So I organized my yarn drawers and put oddballs in plastic bags by gauge and now it's all tidy, although no more useful. Yippee! Does this mean I can buy more yarn?

Now then, is there anything else I can do around here to avoid writing my speech? Oh right, block a half-finished baby sweater and commence obsessing over the new Interweave Knits.

I finally finished the second front of the Dolly baby sweater which I've been working on for months, despite the fact it's only big enough for a baby. As I've said, the yarn is Jaeger Matchmaker Merino 4-ply and it's being scratchy and splitty and generally not so much fun. Plus the pattern is one of those "reverse shaping for other side" jobs which drives me bananas, especially when the first side's pattern includes a lot of "do as set for the last 10 rows 8 more times but decreasing every 2 rows 4 times and then every 6 rows 8 times," etc. etc. Do what?! I can read a pattern, but this makes my head hurt. When I finished both fronts they were little shrively pink bits and I had no idea how big the sweater was going to be, so I was eager to stretch it out for a blocking. Of course, now that I see how big the sweater is I still have no big the average baby is, so it was not much help, although it does look pretty all flattened out.

As for Interweave, I'm loving these two designs:

I'm already envisioning Beaverslide for the first one... Yes Arwen, I see you lurking on the shelf, giving me the evil-unfinished-sweater eye, and quit it! If you were more fun to knit we'd play more, but for the meantime you are staying put.

A Variety of Obsessions

I have two new obsessions:
1. Ravelry.
2. Flickr.

Let's start with Ravelry. Obviously I'm not the first to cry its praises but I LOVE this thing. If you're not already signed up, go get yourself on the waitlist. I have now spent hours uploading all sorts of things, browsing around, admiring other people's stuff and having endless fun. If you're on there, go find me ("onepotato") and let's be friends.

The new obsession with Ravelry then required me to bite the bullet and get a for-real Flickr account. I have actually been resisting this for a long time. I don't love dealing with Flickr and kind of sigh every time I click on a picture and it launches me over there. However, since uploading a ton of photos and beginning to organize them (they are still a shambles, but I'm getting there), I'm becoming a fan. So come be my friend there too!

Right, now back to the crafty stuff. One of my projects is top secret and I will show it next week. I have also been slaving away on my Frost & Flowers shawl. I still love it but fear this project is e-n-d-l-e-s-s. I am not even done with the second ball and have an entire skein left to go. I will persevere. My goal is to be done by Stitches East this fall.





I've also been working on this sweet little baby sweater from the Jaeger JB29 baby book. The yarn is Jaeger matchmaker merino 4-ply. It's a little rough for baby knits, in my opinion, but I think a bath in Eucalan will sort it out. It's slow going as well, though - size 3 needles like the lace. I'm not loving the pattern writing either, so this little item takes a lot of focus, which I don't have when rolling home from work. I fear the recipient will be 3 before I finish - I'm making a 12-18mo but she already looks too big and she's only been around for a couple months!

Back

We are back from vacation. For anyone who can swing it, I highly recommend the two week vacation. You feel just about human again at the end of it.

We saw things like this:

and this:

and also this:

We also ate a lot of this:

Really, quite fantastic.

Very little knitting was accomplished on the trip. We actually spent most nights reading, which was wonderful. I finished Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky and am halfway through Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl, both of which I highly recommend.

Before I left I did finish the now-christened Square Bear, who was given to Baby J yesterday. I made the legs and body in the round without any seams using a turkish cast-on for the toes (each leg was knit separately and then joined in the round in sort-of accordance with the pattern). When I got to the chest I stopped going in the round and split the front and back as though it were a raglan sweater. I knit one paw in the round and then got concerned with how it would attach to the body so I frogged and knit them flat. It turns out I probably could have made these in the round too; next time. I always feel like my knit bears wind up with a kind of cranky expression, but Baby J's dad seemed to love Square Bear so I guess he turned out alright.

Yesterday I also stopped by Purl and got myself some of these much-discussed Addi turbo lace needles. They are indeed quite excellent! I have a very neglected Peacock Feathers Shawl on the needles and have been bemoaning the inadequacies of my Inox needles. I blame them for a dropped stitch some time ago that resulting in the tinking and reknitting of 16 rows (at close to 200 stitches apiece, it was a bona fide nightmare!). Since then I have not been on good terms with Peacock Feathers. Hopefully these needles will renew my interest in finishing her! Unfortunately I do not enjoy the yarn and the rows are soooooo long and prone to mess-ups, it's just not that much fun to knit. :(

I also have a lot of sewing projects in the wings at the moment too, so I hope work behaves and I'll get some time to get cracking!

What a fun surprise!

How exciting to find this in my mailbox! I didn't even know it was coming. Love all of these things! If only my Arwen was finished so I could start another sweater in good faith...

Bear legs

Sometimes you just want to knit a bear. There are a lot of patterns for knit teddies out there and I've made a couple, but this one, from Simple Knits for Cherished Babies, is a favorite. I love the proportions and the simplicity. It makes an elegant, petite teddy. That one is cashmere, but this one is silky Blue Sky Alpacas sportweight.

One thing I dislike about knitting stuffed things is the assembly. Even the most perfectly knitted pieces can match up into a mess if you don't take super care to assemble them properly. I suppose this is also true for knit garments, but errors are more evident in little things. Plus, who wants to spend so much time piecing tiny bits together when the knitting itself takes so little time? This pattern is knit in 7 pieces (!!) - forget it!

To save sanity and keep things interesting, I decided to revamp this little guy to be knit in the round. Sometimes seams are important to add structure, but for such a little stuffed thing they were unnecessary and just added opportunities for sloppiness. For the legs I used a Turkish cast-on (often used for toe-up socks; great tutorial here) and then switched to double-pointed needles to continue up the leg. I did the two legs separately, cutting the yarn on the first to do the second. I then joined them to knit the body in the round, like you would do if you were knitting a seamless sweater and needed to join the arms to the body for the yoke (i.e., knit across the front of the right leg, cast on 2 stitches, knit across the front of the second leg, continue around the back and do the same across the backs of the legs). It worked great! I will also knit the arms in the round but I am going to seam them on because I think there the seams add shape and character.

Just the thing to liberate me from my knitting rut!

Praise be!

Well look what the cat (or mailman) dragged in! No, your eyes do not deceive you, it is my long lost pattern from Phildar. I placed my order on January 22, had much back and forth with Phildar regarding its whereabouts, got extremely cranky, they resent it on February 16 and it arrived yesterday. Based on the postmark, this is the second shipment. I was beginning to think it was never going to come and that I could not face another 12 rounds with Phildar (nor did I think they would believe me, and for good reason). In the meantime, I hope someone in the U.S. Postal Service is knitting themselves a lovely sweater.

The reason for all of this fuss is the Swing Jacket. I think it will be a good chance to both knit and try my hand at a little sewn garment construction by lining the jacket. Plus, it's extremely cute and currently in all of the shop windows. I'm sure I'll finish it just in time for it to go out of style.

And so, another project joins the to-do list!

It's time for a healthy breakfast!

Coffee with a brioche.

Berlin scarf pattern. Malabrigo worsted in pink frost held together with Alchemy Haiku silk-mohair. Original inspiration: Craftoholic's pink garter stitch scarf.

All together, a perfectly balanced Saturday morning breakfast.

Cowly

Delicious: that's what I'd like to say about my fab new cowl. There was a time when I thought these amputated turtlenecks were weird but I am a convert. I love my cowl.


Pattern: Cowl from Last Minute Knitted Gifts.
Materials: Cashmere sock yarn from Hipknits, purchased at Loop in London, size 4 circular Addi Natura needles.
Modifications: Yarn substitution.

This is the perfect transition scarf when you don't need your neck fully swaddled but want a little something to keep out the wind.

And just in case I haven't raved enough about the yarn, let me say it again: love the color, love the hand, love the post-wash feel of this yarn. Plus, it goes on and on and on - look at this wad I have left! Does a girl need two cowls? She just might...

Big fight

I am in a big fight with the good people at Phildar at the moment. Three and a half weeks ago, I ordered a magazine from their website. The site says that if your order doesn't arrive within two weeks, contact them, which I have done... about 8 times. The only contact option is through an online form - there is no phone number - and it seems they only respond to email on alternate Tuesdays when the sun is shining.

Their first email response to my inquiry said to contact them if the package didn't arrive after two weeks (more than two weeks had already passed, so wasn't that what I'd just done?). I responded accordingly, and their second response revealed they had omitted my state from the package address. They suggested perhaps someone else from my house accepted the package? (No.) Or maybe I could call the post office to see if they had it. Call the post office! Have you ever tried calling the post office in New York City to see if they had a misplaced envelope? Sometimes I go to the post office and they can't find the stamps! (I'm not kidding.) Clearly, not a feasible solution.

Despite my response to their suggestions last week and my pleas to replace the order (with promises to return any duplicates received), I have had radio silence on the other end of the line. Really, I am very very annoyed.

Update: Apparently my rage has been successfully telegraphed to the good people of Phildar and they have today informed me that they will be resending my pattern! Not clear if my State will be included this time, but here's hoping. Keep your fingers crossed!

Arwen's got back

One Arwen back: Done. Although the instructions tell me to bind it off, I left it on a stitch holder because I am sure I can find some way to join the fronts and hood without sewing the whole mess together. I wove in the ends as I went along and gave the piece a steam blocking to prevent loss of momentum when sweater-finishing malaise sets in.

There is still much to go, and I'm a little bored, although the cables on the front help a bit.








My new Interweave Knits arrived today too. I like the new format - the photographs of the knits seem clearer and make it very easy to see the pieces. Unfortunately, they also make it clear there is nothing I want to knit in this issue. This often happens to me with spring/summer patterns - I don't love cotton yarn or whispy lightweight knitted things. I've only been through it once, but this issue also seems to have a lot of long tunic-y things that do not work well on my not-tall body.

I'm still powering through stockinette land. My cowl is nearing completion! Maybe then I'll have some interesting show-and-tell. Otherwise, much work and not much progress to report around here, although I'll show you my new fabric friends once they are out of the dryer and ironed.

Kit

I love supplies. Love. Them. In many ways, they are better than yarn (stashers, hold on to your hair). You can use your crafty supplies on all of your projects. When a project is finished, the fun is not over - supplies work just as well on the next one! The right supplies make any crafty endeavor easier. They can also open up a world of new project possibilities (who can deal with lace without stitch markers?). For example, you may have noted my affection for my bias tape maker - it's ingenious in its simplicity, produces a neat and pretty finished product and drastically reduces the effort needed to produce the same result by other methods. I'll put bias tape edging on anything that will sit still long enough!

This weekend I acquired a fantastic new bit of kit - the cutest crochet hook ever created (Chapstick included for scale). I often prefer to weave in ends and other finishing with a crochet hook instead of a tapestry needle. Problem is, crochet hooks, particularly the skinny-especially-useful ones, like to escape from my knitting bag and apartment like it's their job. Imagine my delight when I saw this little gem at the counter of my local yarn shop. The best part is it fits in my little pouch of critical knitting supplies - no more escapee hooks!

Along with my knitting I always tote a small zip pouch full of knit tool goodness. Here's my kit, clockwise from left to right: (1) row/stitch counters (three may be overdoing it, but at some point all were in rotation, plus the little blue one has a loose dial and likes to lose count so it's really just along for the ride), (2) safety pin-like stitch markers (for securely hooking onto particular stitches), (3) two other varieties of stitch markers (one that slips on the needle and one that hooks into the knitted fabric), (4) my new baby crochet hook, (5) Chibi needles, (6) my mom's old spring stitch markers (these are purely sentimental and I can't resist a little plastic box), (7) retractable tape measure and (8) collapsible scissors.

I also have a little problem with pattern collection... but that's for another day.

In the Land of Stockinette

Knit. Knit. Knit. Knit. Knit.
Purl. Purl. Purl. Purl. Purl.

I do try to make only interesting things, but sometimes I strand myself in a land of stockinette. I've got nothing against stockinette. In fact, the reason I get stranded is that I love its simplicity, its smooth finish, the neat little V's... but a girl does begin to long for a cable, yarnover or twisted stitch every now and again. Alas, it's all knit for the moment. At least it goes quickly.

First up is the cashmere cowl. Here she is perched in the office window. This is my subway project and it's a perfect commuting endeavor. Heck, I don't even have to purl! I just knit around in circles while attempting not to doze off. The yarn is delightful and the cowl is growing at a respectable pace (it's actually grown since this shot). I think I'm about halfway done.

The next item is Arwen. She waits for me at home on the couch. I'm about 6" into the back and done with one ball of yarn (only 13 more to go! Gray yarn be gone!). At least Arwen includes the excitement of purling the wrong side - wahoo!

My secret white project is also stockinette. It's been occupying quite a bit of knitting time but unfortunately it's secret. Maybe it's not such a loss though - how much stockinette can a blog bear, and white stockinette is surely off the spectrum of boring!

Tomorrow: the fun little sewing projects I whipped up this weekend and a completely stockinette-free post.

Retail therapy

Yesterday my friend C and I hit Manhattan with a major shopping list. Many fun things were purchased.

The first stop was School Products, where C snatched up two pounds (!!) of gorgeous charcoal gray cashmere merino on a giant cone to knit herself a Flicka. It promises to be fantastic. I also picked up another hank of big fat cashmere to make a hat for my friend V. I used this yarn on my so-called udon hat (which I have yet to photograph). I love that hat, but I think I'll go down a needle size because the stitch turned out a little open, it's a wee bit big and most importantly, my dear V has a little tiny peanut head.

We then headed down to Purl Patchwork where I purchased various unphotogenic bits and bobs including lightweight quilt batting, heavyweight fusible interfacing, cream cotton and sewing machine needles. In addition, somehow I am incapable of leaving there without one or two colorful scraps of fabric and this trip was no different.

It was then on to Purl. I saw this beautiful pink garter stitch scarf in Malabrigo and was smitten. I'm not ordinarily a pink person but I just loved that scarf and when I saw some Malabrigo on eBay, home it came. Unfortunately, it arrived a bit more cotton candy than anticipated. No matter, a little rose mohair should do the trick. I'll hold them together, the mohair will melt into the Malabrigo and my pink will be divine.

While at Purl I also picked up some Fibre Company Terra for my mother in law (hi mom!). She is going to be making a mobius wrap thingum with some Noro Silk Garden I have left over from my Lady Eleanor wrap. The Noro colorway is discontinued #34. Bizarrely, this colorway has elements that blend almost seamlessly into a number of Terra colors. I chose one green/purple that almost disappears into the Noro and one wine/purple to bring out the purple in the Noro and add a reddish element.

Speaking of Lady Eleanor, here she is. I finished this last summer and she stays in my overly air-conditioned office where I rarely have a camera handy to photograph her. The pattern is from Scarf Style by Pam Allen. I highly recommend this project! I get many compliments on her.

I will share some photos of works in progress tomorrow, including two small sewing projects. On the knitting front, things are progressing, although it seems I've signed myself into stockinette hell for the foreseeable future.

Swatchy

I have a pile of gray yarn that haunts me. I think it is cursed. It occupies a twingey little spot in the back of my brain that itches every time I purchase another skein of anything. "What are you doing?!" It says. "Why don't you love me? What will become of me? Sniffle." Grah.

Oh how I loved this yarn when it first came home with me. It was destined to be the most beautiful cabled sweater from a Rebecca magazine. So what if the gauge wasn't even close - I was going to make it happen! Never mind that at that point I had never altered a sweater pattern to make it fit, or really tinkered with much of anything. Never mind that I knew going in that the English translation of the German pattern had some sort of error and the chart was wrong. Big deal, this was going to be fantastic.

Here is the yarn in its first life as the Rebecca sweater. Sorry for the dark picture, it was taken before I knew any better. It almost makes me teary to look at - the cables are so pretty! I knit the back and one sleeve. I knew deep down there was no way it would fit... it was only about 34" around and the Girls need more room than that. Not to mention that since the gauge was totally off I had monkeyed with the depth of the armscythe to deal with the cables but did not do similar monkeying for the sleeve cap, which was way too shallow.

When I finally came to terms with reality, I ripped, and washed and hung to dry, and fortunately the yarn did not seem too disturbed.

The next incarnation was another cabled sweater - Saltwater from Rowan Classic Beach. I hate the beach; I should have known this would not work out. (You can see a beautifully executed version here, though.) I don't even think I have pictures of this. I had decided to do some waist shaping and shorten the ribbed section, but was too lazy to do the real math (clearly learning nothing from the earlier experience). Back to the frog pond. This time, the yarn was a little less accommodating, although I only killed two balls or so.

When Interweave Knits arrived last fall I saw Arwen. I must admit I was not completely besotted with the sweater but I thought the reversible cables were interesting and, more importantly, I could get rid of this grim pile of gray yarn!! In the meantime this sweater has developed quite a cult following. It was not until I saw this one finished over at Juju's blog that I decided I could really get behind this sweater.

So, I have been swatching. I think I made a mistake in the cable, but I think you get the point.* I'm going to make it smaller than recommended because it will never be worn closed and the finished measurements in the instructions have the front cables overlapping. I might add waist shaping... then again I might just knit feverishly to make the gray yarn GO AWAY!

- - -
* Note to self: Do not knit half a swatch of reversible cables, fail to mark your place, and attempt to resume on the subway while balancing your magazine, overstuffed handbag and coffee in your lap and barely having enough space to bend your arms.

Snow Day!

Ok not quite a snow day... but there was snow, and it is a day, so technically it is a snow day. I woke up to big fat snowflakes floating about outside. By the time I walked out the door for work all that was left was this sodden mess, but I think we can still agree that Brooklyn is beautiful in the snow.

Now to the real matter at hand: mittens. Finishing those Anemois has made my fingers itchy for more fair isle, and specifically more Koigu fair isle. After ripping the disasterous pink socks I have a batch of hot pink Koigu at the ready. I rummaged through the stash and unearthed this buttery yellow from an abandoned baby sweater. I only have one skein so using it as contrast color on fair isle mittens is the perfect project. I don't necessarily know if I would have bought these two together, but I think they pair up nicely.

This time I'm going to use a more traditional pattern than Anemoi. I made these mittens last year using the Frostrosen kit from Nordic Fiber Arts (by the way, they've updated their website so you should all go have a look). When my friend M saw them, she requested a pair in a brighter color and softer yarn. I think hot pink Koigu should do the trick! This time, I'm planning to carry the contrast color in my left hand and see how the yarn dominance situation works out.

Although I am very excited about this new project, I am going to behave and not start on it until I've made some serious progress on the cowl. Unfortunately, it's only about 1" long right now, so that could be a while.

Cowl me

I've got cowl on the brain. Once upon a time I thought these things were weird and useless but now I must have one, and pronto.

Fortunately, I've got just the yarn for the job: delicious cashmere sock yarn I picked up at Loop in London. When I put it on the swift for winding I became skeptical... the colors seemed clumped together and the yarn had sort of a crispy texture (which was hard to feel in the skein because it was twisted up very tightly). Things did not look promising. Silly, silly me - the yarn cake is a delight and the swatches are even better! The colors knit up nicely without a pool in sight. Of course, it remains to be seen if this continues across 130 stitches rather than 30, but I am optimistic.

I had originally earmarked this yarn for the lace cowl from The Purl Bee, but things were not gelling (note that color in this photo is way off). I started it on 6's, which were too big for the job, and in any event I didn't feel the lace showcased the yarn color or texture; it was all a muddle. The yarn is pretty enough to be featured in something simple and elegant, so I returned to the straight-forward cowl in Last Minute Knitted Gifts.

I swatched with needles 5, 4 and 3 (4 and 3 were in one swatch) and then gave them a Eucalan bath. I know it's been said time and time again, but I am a believer: Wash. Your. Swatch. People. The linen-y quality disappeared, the yarn became buttery soft and each stitch plumped up beautifully. The swatches also grew about half a stitch per inch. I decided on the 4's, but didn't have a pair of circular 4's in the right length so I had to order them and wait impatiently.

Now that they've arrived I have a new commuting project and soon a snuggly new cowl!